Every month, students participate in separate boys’ and girls’ clubs. The HRA Boys’ Club is led by school counselor, Mr. Lwanga, and Officer Harris, a former HRA student and current Howard County Police Officer. The club serves as a safe, healthy space for students to discuss different aspects of social life. Officer Harris attended HRA for 7th, 8th, and 9th grade from 2001-2004 before transitioning to a less restrictive environment and graduating from his home high school. His incredible journey provides a great perspective for current HRA students. The Upper and Lower School boys always enjoy their monthly meetings [...]

Recently, High Road Academy held a basketball tournament for Upper and Lower School students at the North Laurel Community Center. The tournament consisted of a 3 vs.3 player format. It was an opportunity for our students to compete and demonstrate their passion and skills on the basketball court. It was fun, competitive, high-tech. With the use of the electronic score board and announcement system, one student remarked, “It’s like being in a pro game out there.”

Recently, the students in 5th, 6th and 7th grades had the opportunity to visit the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia, MD. This nature education facility is situated on 18 acres of land adjacent to the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area. Students listened to nature professionals speak about the area and local wildlife species. They then hiked the center’s nature trails, providing students an experience to interact with the various plant and animal species.

Although the Music Club is not a full orchestra or marching band it has the heart of one. It all started with one student asking if there was anyone he could play guitar with. It just so happens that t he teacher he asked knew how to play the guitar and within a few days the first jam session was started. To start, they focused on different songs they both knew and the chords and techniques behind them. Since then the Music Club has grown to five participants. We have a drummer, two guitar players, a harmonica player and a [...]

Part of the Transition Program here at High Road Academy is running our kitchen. Each student in the senior class get a chance to assist with making and distributing meals, putting shipping orders away and maintaining a proper working space. The purpose of the kitchen program is for each of our students to get some real-life experience in working both in a team and individually. One interesting aspect which was derived from the kitchen program is the staff have developed their own language special to the High Road Kitchen. For example, one of our kitchen managers Alex said yesterday, [...]

We are so proud to announce that High Road Academy is entering its third year in partnership with Howard County Parks and Recreation. Over 20 students have helped to maintain the parks in their community since this partnership began. The goal of this program is to provide an opportunity for our students to contribute to our local community while also completing their service learning hours (in accordance with their High School Graduation Requirements). Our students engage in a number of projects throughout the county including cleanup of public areas and trails. his partnership has been extremely beneficial to our [...]

Recently, High Road Academy welcomed a very special visitor. Washington Redskins’ rookie offensive tackle, Kendall Calhoun, came to the school to speak with students, sign autographs, and take pictures. Calhoun was a teammate of HRA 11th-grade teacher, Mr. Murray, at the University of Cincinnati. Students were extremely excited to meet the Redskins rookie. HRA extends a very big “thank you” to Mr. Murray for arranging the visit from his former teammate, and the school is sincerely grateful to Kendall for providing the students with such a unique experience.

James found out about the scholarship opportunity from Ms. Scott a reading support staff member at High Road Academy. After asking him if he would be interested in applying and taking the time to meet with James to go over the different areas the scholarship covers and awards he could apply for James decided to complete the application process. James begin to research music schools that he could attend if he won the award and after a few unsuccessful attempts to find a school that would accept him since he was still in High School he didn’t give up. James [...]

Spelling Bees are a popular and effective way to have students become better spellers. It allows them to practice spelling words they might not ordinarily use while mixing in some fun and competition. This the High Road Schools of the Maryland South Region decided to create a regional spelling be that would comprise of the top 2 spellers from each program in the elementary, middle, and high schools. Early in planning for the process, our schools were dealt a blow with the tragic passing of one of the Regional Spelling Bee participants, Jalan White. Jalan was an 11th grade [...]